[BJWilliams]

The Lady Flames, after a break for the Easter holiday, are back in action as the Spartans of UNC Greensboro come to town:



The Spartans, members of the Southern Conference, come into today's doubleheader with an overall record of 16-28, and 3-9 in conference play. UNCG comes into today on a seven game losing streak, including a 3 game sweep last time out by Appalachian State.

They are led by senior outfielder Gwen Johnson:



Johnson comes in with a .382 average 8 home runs and 16 RBI.

Also a big part of their offense is senior catcher Kelly Allen:



Allen leads the team with 23 RBI. She has hit 4 home runs and is tied for the team lead with 7 doubles.


The leading pitcher for the Lady Spartans is one in Vanessa Oakes:



Oakes enters today with a record of 9-11 in 21 starts with an ERA of 3.09. In 145 innings pitched, Oakes has allowed 92 runs (64 earned), walked 57 and struck out 142. She has also given up 12 home runs and opponense are hitting .269



Liberty enters today with a record of 28-15, 2-0 in Big South Conference play. Liberty has won 5 out of their last 10 games including splits with Bethune Cookman and Hampton from the MEAC and Virginia from the ACC.

Liberty is led by junior Jessica Moore. Moore comes in with a .443 average, 14 home runs (both of which are team highs) and 22 RBI. Also contributing heavily are sophomore Ashley Williams (.354 avg, 8 HR, team leading 44 RBI), and freshman Beth Bennett (.290 avg, 3 HR, 30 RBI)

On the pitching side, Liberty has a three headed monster in terra Lowe, Sarah Swor and freshman Sarah Ellis. Lowe comes in with a record of 10-6 in 20 appearances (15 starts), with an ERA of 1.99. Lowe. in 105 1/3 innings has allowed 48 runs, 30 of them earned, walked 25 and struck out 86, while opponents are hitting .236. Swor comes in with a record of 10-7 (the 10 wins ties for tops on the team with Lowe) in 23 appearances (16 starts) and an ERA of 2.50. In 114 2/3 innings, Swor has allowed 60 runs, 41 of them earned, walked 23 and struck out 87. Opponents are hitting .248. Newcomer Sarah Ellis has shown herself to be a surprisingly dominant player. Ellis is 8-1 in 19 apperances (11 starts) with an ERA of 2.52. In just 75 innings pitched, Ellis has allowed 30 runs (27 earned), walked 26 and struck out 53 while opponents are hitting .257.

The non conference doubleheader gets going with first pitch scheduled for 2 PM. 90.9 and the Flames Sports Network will have coverage of the game.

[SuperJon]

She hasn't been playing but man oh man is she hot. Meet Hannah Angel:




And I just spent 20 minutes trying to find her myspace but I lost it. I used to have it. Oh well. She's gorgeous.

[SuperJon]

Haven't met her before but Lynsey Wilson ain't too bad either:

[PAmedic]

be nice to get back on track here and get a real winning streak going- important to step it up now until the end of the season. This looks like a good chance to pick up 2- assuming the bats are working today we should match up well against this team.

[bigsmooth]

nice looking ladies...i knew SJ, would find em!

[SuperJon]

Hannah played down the road from me in high school. My team played against em 4 or 5 times in two years. I also had a ton of friends that graduated with her. Let's just say she's a nice girl.

[BJWilliams]

Liberty splits again winning the first game 4-0 and falling in the second game 6-4. Terra Lowe pitched a masterful first game going all 7 innings, 6 2/3 perfect (she lost the perfect game on a 2-2 single in the top of the 7th). Hannah Angel (who SuperJon referenced earlier) was the hard luck loser as she went 6 innings and gave up those 4 runs.

In game 2 Sarah Swor had another tough go of it as she only went 4 innings and took the loss. Danielle Byrne got the win for UNCG

[PAmedic]

Strange that we're losing at home like this. At least we got one out of the two.

Lowe’s Near Perfect Game Helps Lady Flames To Doubleheader Split With Spartans

April 18, 2006 · Lynchburg, Va.

Box Score Note:
For game box score, click “Team Stats” link on the right-hand navigation bar as all season box scores are listed on this link.

Terra Lowe came within a pitch of tossing the first-ever seven inning perfect game in school history in a 4-0 opening win over UNC Greensboro, while six-straight runs helped the Spartans to a 6-4 victory in the second game, Tuesday afternoon, at the Liberty Softball Field.

With the doubleheader split, the Lady Flames raise their record to 29-16 on the season and stand just one win shy of recording their first 30-win season since 2000 when Liberty completed a five-year stretch where the team won 30 or more games in a year.

In the first game, the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third inning as Jessica Leary led off the frame by drawing a walk. After advancing to second and third on a pair of wild pitches, Leary was able to score on a RBI base hit to left field by Dawn Jeffs to give Liberty a 1-0 lead.

The Lady Flames added to their lead in the fifth when Jeffs led off the inning with a single to center field, while two batters later, the second baseman was able to cross the plate on a RBI single up the middle by Ashley Williams to push Liberty’s advantage to 2-0.

Liberty put the game out of reach in the sixth inning when Shannon McKain led off the frame with a double to the gap in left center field, while two batters later, Jessica Moore connected on her team-leading 15th home run of the year over the fence in right center field to give the Lady Flames their final 4-0 edge.

Terra Lowe nearly joined an elite group of Liberty pitchers as the junior was perfect through 20 batters; however, Jennifer Bonilla broke up the perfect game bid with a two-out single in the seventh through the left side of the infield.

Lowe walked the next batter, but got an infield pop-up to end the game, allowing the junior to pick up her team-leading 11th victory of the season as she allowed just the single hit and struck out 11 batters in the complete-game effort. Hannah Angel suffered the loss as she allowed all four runs on seven hits, while walking four batters and strikeout seven.

Jeffs led the Lady Flames from the plate as she finished the game 2-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored, while Williams was 2-for-3 with a RBI single.

In the second contest, the Lady Flames kept the momentum from the first game as Beth Bennett was issued a two-out walk in the first inning followed by Ashley Williams ninth home run of the year as the two-run blast to left field game Liberty a 2-0 lead.

However, the Spartans finally got their offense going to score six-straight runs and take a lead their would never relinquish. UNC Greensboro started in the second inning as Lyndsay Mouse dropped a bunt base hit down the first base line, while two batters later, Kara Clouser knocked her in with a base hit through the left side of the infield.

In the third, the Spartans pulled even with Liberty as Krista Judge led off the frame with an infield single back up the middle, while the leadoff hitter tied the game as she scored on a RBI base hit to center field off the bat of Jennifer Bonilla.

The score remained the same until the fifth inning when the Spartans plated three runs on three hits to take the lead for good. Judge led off the frame with a bunt single just in front of the circle, while Adriane Audley was struck by a pitch to follow.

Starting pitcher Sarah Swor was lifted and relived by Sarah Ellis; however, Ellis struggled as she allowed a single to right field by Bonilla to start her relief appearance, while she issued a bases loaded walk to Kelly Allen to force in the first run of the inning.

Two batters later, Audley scored on a fielder’s choice play off the bat of Stephanie Talarek, while a RBI base hit back up the middle by Clouser drove in Bonilla to cap off the decisive inning.

UNC Greensboro plated an insurance run in the sixth inning as Koury Duncan was struck by a pitch to start off the inning, while three batters later, Bonilla lofted a ball deep to left field to allow Duncan to score on the sacrifice fly.

Williams’ two-run homer in the first inning was Liberty’s only hit of the game until the sixth inning when Bennett led off the frame with a single to center field, while three batters later, Shannon McKain followed with a base hit to the fence in straightaway center to score pinch runner Rachel Love and pull Liberty within three, 6-3.

The Lady Flames attempted to mount one last rally in the seventh inning as pinch hitter Whitney Nixon led off the frame with a five-pitch walk. Later in the frame, back-to-back singles through the left side of the infield gave Liberty hope, including a RBI base hit by Williams, but Danielle Byrne was able to halt the late rally to secure the victory.

Byrne tossed her first complete game of the season as the senior allowed four runs on five hits, while walking five and striking out four batters in seven innings of work.

Swor suffered the loss and drops to 10-8 on the year as she allowed four runs on six hits in four innings of work, before Ellis (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB) and Lowe (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) finished off the final three innings.

Bennett and Williams led the Lady Flames from the plate as Bennett finished the game 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Williams was 2-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI to increase her team-leading total to 48 on the year.

The Lady Flames will conclude a brief two-game homestand tomorrow afternoon when they host cross town opponent Lynchburg College for a non-conference doubleheader, started to start at 3 p.m.